A FINE WINE SAFARI

Chenin Blanc

I have been very fortunate to have tasted and reviewed every single vintage of red and white Savage Wines since the maiden 2011 red and 2012 white. Duncan Savage is certainly now well bedded into his new urban winery in Salt River and the 2018 range of new releases represents probably Duncan’s finest, most self assured range of wines produced to date. While certain individual back vintages may have recorded higher critical scores for wines in his range, this year’s releases are not only his most consistent quality wise but also the most confident and well honed wines produced.

With many of the Savage cuvees selling out on release, followers of Duncan’s exceptional wines are encouraged to get in quickly to avoid disappointment. As for Duncan himself, he is of the firm opinion that the Savage Red 2017 and Savage White 2018 are probably two of the best wines he has ever produced and more specifically, were made in a style that he is striving to perfect.

Tasting with Duncan Savage at his winery in Salt River, Cape Town in April 2019.

Savage Follow the Line Cinsault 2018, 13% Abv.

While only in its 5th vintage, if there was a race to create a cult wine in South Africa in the shortest time possible, this wine would stand a very good chance of winning. But with instant fame comes increased pressure and expectation and the 2018 vintage was not one of the easiest in South Africa due to drought conditions. But these 38 year old south-east facing Darling origin bush vines once again showed their true pedigree. Labelled as Cinsault, the 2018 includes 85.4% Cinsault and a slightly elevated 14.6% of Syrah, which were aged five weeks on their skins with the use of 50% of whole-bunches. The wine was aged 10 months in oval foudre (1500-2000 litre capacity). Always sublimely perfumed and fragrant, the nose boasts lifted layers of dried lavender, violets, rose petals, red crystallised cherries and hints of Turkish delight. But it is on the palate that the wine reveals a classy weightless streamlined concentration, fabulously sleek polished mineral tannins and an all round sense of finesse and harmony. A terrifically serious effort from Duncan. Pressure? What pressure! Drink from release but do cellar a few bottles for 5 to 8+ years.

(95/100 Greg Sherwood MW )

Savage Thief in the Night 2018, 13% Abv.

The maiden 2017 vintage of this wine was released to rave critical reviews last year despite this cuvee still being a work in progress. The 2018 blend retains a punchy slug of 54% Grenache, a slightly elevated 24% Syrah and a fine supporting 22% Cinsault from the Piekenierskloof. Components were fermented separately unlike 2017, with the grapes spending 10 days on their skins using 20% whole-bunches. After 10 months of ageing in 3,200 litre conical foudre and one new 225 litre barrel, the wine was bottled unfiltered off its fine lees. When I tasted this wine from barrel, I instantly remarked what a step up I thought it was even on the excellent 2017. In bottle, the aromatics display a wonderfully crisp, pure delineated red cherry scented top note with plenty of granitic minerality and graphite in support. Subtle notes of sweet sappy red currant and red plum confit allow the nose to retain an element of broodiness but there is no holding back the palate however, which bristles with delicious vibrancy, wild strawberry, a bright pin point acidity and again an opulent, glycerol weightless intensity and concentration. This really is a genuinely thrilling wine!

(94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Savage Are We There Yet 2018, Malgas, 13% Abv.

Where the 2016 was perhaps a little later picked, the 2017 certainly turned heads and found and extra gear. In 2018, the blend is a 50/50 split between Touriga Nacional and Syrah, with the Syrah using 50% whole-bunches with two weeks skin contact. The wine was aged 15 months in old 500 litre barrels before bottling. This wine certainly has its own bold vinous personality and reveals a dark, deep damson plum colour and an equally deep, dark broody aromatic profile. Loaded with blue and black berry fruits, you can almost smell the sea as layers of saline black currant, kelp and piquant salty black liquorice are underpinned by a pronounced dusty, granitic, rocky minerality. With a mindful focus on freshness, Duncan manages to retain plenty of pithy mineral spice framed by dusty graphite tannins that flex a bit more muscle than either the Follow the Line or Thief in the Night blends. This is a really stellar vintage for this cuvee and perhaps the 13 year old bush vines show why Touriga and Syrah are so well suited to drought conditions. Very pure and super classy with a fine saline cassis density, this wine shows the same impressive gravitas and complexity seen on the previous 2017 vintage. A wine that looks set to impress the critics.

(94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Savage Girl Next Door 2018 Syrah, 13.5 Abv.

If Follow the Line has grown into a Savage cult wine, this tiny production Syrah single vineyard of 0.38 hectares grown on sandy gravel soils overlooking the Atlantic Ocean near Fishhoek, is most certainly the more serious icon wine of the range. The knarled wind battered and salt affected 13 year old trellised vines are made to struggle and normally yield little more fruit than a meagre 200 cases in a good year. 100% Syrah using 70% whole-bunches spends two weeks on its skins followed by malolatic and 10 months ageing in old neutral 600 litre barrels. South Africa has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great Syrah wines, yet for me this wine, along with perhaps only one or two others, consistently represents the pinnacle of classical, restrained, old world character that I often envisage could have come from a grand old appellation vineyard of the northern Rhone. Always beautifully deep, rich and textured, the nose has a beguiling complexity of earthy black currants, sweet black peppercorns, black olive tapenade and cured meats. The mind and senses start wondering to foreign shores long before you even put the first sip in your mouth. Fabulously tight knit, creamy, mineral and restrained, blueberry nuances slowly give way to tart black cherry and sour raspberry coulis on the long, lingering finish. Peppery mineral tannins guide this wine confidently and elegantly like a firm hand on a boats rudder. A truly special creation, this is one wine worth hunting down and duelling for!

(95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Savage Red Blend 2017, 13.5% Abv.

After a bit of vintage shuffling, last years 2015 blockbuster was the last Savage Red blend to be bottled, reverting in 2017 to a pure 100% Syrah wine made from vines grown exclusively on granitic soils in both Stellenbosch and the Swartland. Farmed biodynamically, the Stellenbosch vineyard fruit makes up the lion’s share of this wine and indeed will comprise 100% of the Savage Red in 2018.The grapes spend two weeks on their skins with 50% whole-bunches used before spending 13 months in 500 litre barrels and a further 9 months in 3,200 litre conical foudre, or just under two years elevage in the cellar. A super smart and super concentrated expression, this later release allows one to revisit the fabulously complex aromatics and balance of the exceptional 2017 vintage. Loaded with piquant blueberries, saline cassis and blackberry opulence, the nose shows strikingly complex notes of pink musk, sweet grilled herbs, black peppercorn spice and is embellished with an intoxicating exotic sweet white lily blossom fragrance. The palate intensity is also tremendously impressive with a harmonious crystalline purity and classical elegance in abundance. Showing a slightly more overt, opulent personality to the broody foursquare 2015, this wine represents an evolution and growing maturity in the red winemaking of Duncan Savage. One of his best efforts to date no doubt.

(96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Savage White Blend 2018, 13.5% Abv.

As Duncan’s flagship white, the blend might sometimes evolve and alter depending on vintage conditions, but quality, freshness and balance is never compromised. From another warm, dry vintage, the vines have gotten seemingly more used to the drought conditions and winemakers have also tweaked their picking dates to focus on freshness and purity of fruit. The 2018 is an impressive blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Semillon and a slightly larger than usual 18% Chenin Blanc. Grapes were all whole bunch pressed and fermented with approximate 80% of the wine undergoing malolactic fermentation before being aged 10 months in old 500 litre oak barrels. A magnificently intelligent blend of Kaaimansgat, Villiersdorp and Piekenierskloof fruit, it displays a fresh, cool, crystalline vibrancy, fragrant pithy white citrus and green apple zest and a subtle waxy, fleshy, bruised pear savoury hint. On the palate, the message of clarity, purity and precision is clear to see with sherbety acids spritzing up the fringes and adding extra frame and linearity to the exotic tart tangerine, grapefruit, kumquat and pineapple pastille concentration. A very distinguished winemaking display yet again to produce a wine that is lithe and elegant, finely balanced yet intense and surely among the most sophisticated Savage white blend vintages produced to date. Drink on release and over the next 4 to 8+ years.

(95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Savage Never Been Asked To Dance Chenin Blanc 2018, 13.5 Abv.

Duncan’s knowledge of old vine Paarl vineyards is well known and this 100% Chenin Blanc from 64 year old dry land grown bush vines on granite soils is a fabulous expression of what is possible in this region. Whole bunch pressed and fermented and aged in neutral Stockinger 600 litre barrels for 10 months, this second vintage rises to new heights after a very solid 2017 effort. The 2018 is altogether less pithy and herbal than the last vintage, instead conveying more classical notes of dusty granitic minerality, white citrus, creamy pineapple pastille fruits and sweet lemon biscuit notes. Top quality old vine Paarl Chenin Blanc has a pronounced signature and this wine has it written all over it thanks to Duncan’s minimal intervention and focus on terroir and site. Elegant and harmonious across the palate, this wine is deliciously fleshy and glycerol, ultra pure and cool but also sophisticated and seamlessly light on its feet. You could not ask for more purity or varietal typicity. Duncan has really nailed it in 2018 with this fabulous old vine Chenin fruit.

(94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Not Tonight Josephine Straw Wine 2018, 11% Abv.

As a category, Chenin Blanc straw wine can probably be regarded as one of the most successful and critically acclaimed in South Africa if international journalists’ scores are to be followed. But having tasted a lot of straw wine globally, the purity, richness, balance and intensity that Duncan has achieved on this maiden 2018 is certainly quite impressive. 100% Chenin Blanc grown on rocky sandstone from the Pienenierskloof farm of Tierhoek was dried for three weeks and then left for five days on its skins as whole-bunches followed by foot treading. Resulting grapes were basket pressed into small barrels for the remainder of fermentation and for a further 10 months of ageing. At 294 g/l residual sugar, a 9.5g/l TA and with only 850 x 37.5cl bottles produced, you can expect the scramble to begin swiftly for this little rarity. Dark yellow golden in colour, the nose exhibits fabulously exotic notes of granadilla, sun dried yellow peaches, dried straw spice, orange marmalade, creamy yellow fruit pastries with custard and classic dried apricot roll. Super supple, elegant and fleshy in the mouth, at no point does it become clawing or over bearing. Fabulously balanced with finesse and well honed winemaking, this wine will appeal to a whole new cross section of Savage consumers. Eminently ageworthy of course, you can drink this sweet gem over the next 20+ years.

Brookdale is a fabulous new winery owned by Englishman Tim Rudd that is planted with 20+ year old Chenin Blanc vines as well as several other special Chenin Blanc blocks that are almost 35 years old situated at the foot of the lofty Du Toitskloof Pass in Paarl.

The property was bought by the Rudd family which kick started a widespread replanting programme where sustainable viticulture and farming for the future generations are at the centre of their ethos. Most of the previous vineyards acquired with the estate have already been uprooted and only the old vine Chenin Blanc blocks were retained. The site is regularly exposed to strong winds that often reduce yields and offer much-needed cooling in Paarl’s warm inland climate. This site offers altitude and granitic soils rich in clay and schist that are ideal for Chenin Blanc.

Brookdale is also very excited about its unique blends. There will be a white blend in future from a 16 varietal field blend that will be fermented and aged in amphorae. The red wines will consist of a Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Petit Syrah, Touriga Nacional, Petit Manseng and also a 20 varietal red field blend. The reds will be aged in older barrels and a small percent of new oak will be used for the Touriga Nacional.

While the first two Chenin Blanc vintages were made under the close guidance of winemaker rock star Duncan Savage, he was also instrumental in bringing in their new full time winemaker who was previously Duncan’s assistant winemaker at Savage Wines.

Taking Brookdale forward from 2019 is Kiara Scott, a young 27 year old winemaker who studied at Elsenberg before being selected to join the Cape Winemakers Guild Protege Programme. Kiara has worked vintages in the Rhône Valley, Sancerre and the Russian River in Sonoma, California. The future at Brookdale is super exciting and this is most definitely an estate to follow closely.

Brookdale Chenin Blanc 2018, 13.5 Abv.

Like the maiden 2017 release, the 2018 Brookdale is a blend of Chenin Blanc Block 2, Block 5 and Block 10.1 using 50% new oak (1 x new 500 litre and 1 x 10 year old 500 litre barrel). The aromatics are slightly more restrained and subtle coming together to yield a classical Paarl Chenin melange of gravelly pineapple pastille, warm buttered croissants, sweet orange citrus zest and wet thatch herbal spice. On the palate the wine shows impressive oak spice, fruit and savoury leesy lemon biscuit integration and complexity but also superb fleshy, stony yellow orchard fruit notes, bruised green apples and acids that are bright and tangy but finely balanced by a fleshy glycerol texture. Ultimately, it’s the wine’s harmony and intensity with finely judged balance that really leaves a long lasting impression. Thoroughly seductive and captivating, this wine is a total show stopper and a new icon Chenin Blanc in the growing ranks of South Africa’s new wave producers.

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With the 2018 new releases of the David & Nadia Single Vineyard Chenin Blancs setting the South African industry alight with excitement, it is easy to forget that David has also been producing one of the Swartland’s top white blends for over 10 years with high scoring consistency.

The Aristargos is traditionally a blend of 14 to 16 different vineyards based around Chenin Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne which are often picked in over 20 batches such as in 2018. I recently tasted an interesting mini vertical of this superb white blend and was very impressed with the wine’s intensity, balance, structure and complexity.

At a fraction of the single vineyard Chenin Blanc prices, the Aristargos and David & Nadia straight Chenin Blanc are certainly wines collectors should take note of and seek out. They offer impressive value and outstanding quality.

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Few white wines from South Africa have emerged from the vinous landscape to stake a greater claim to Grand Cru quality status than the single vineyard Chenin Blanc expressions from David and Nadia Sadie. With a formidable track record being established for the Hoe Steen and Skaliekop bottlings, these wines have found a strong following among collectors and connoisseurs and are now joined by the excellent Plat’Bos single vineyard cuvée.

These wines just seem to tick all the requisite boxes… exceptional quality, consistency, age ability, limited production, old vines, site specific and international critical acclaim… making these annual new releases an important feature of the South African fine wine landscape.

Single vineyard planted in 1985 on brown shale soils with a north west facing aspect. Picked in the last week of January over two or three passes through the vineyard. Instantly taut, restrained and mineral driven with gravel, green apple pastille, crunchy pear and dry bush veld spice nuances. Palate shows a sleek texture, fabulous intensity and balance, fresh electric acids, salinity and an impressively long, white peach and pear purée finish. Nice coiled tension and eminently age worthy without any doubt.

Planted in 1968 with a massale selection of grapes with at least two clones of Chenin Blanc. A south facing vineyard with little terraces, the soils are clay rich with lots of coffee klip. Aromatics are very dusty, spicy and gravelly with perhaps hints of the other aromatic varieties like False Pedro, Semillon, Palomino and Crouchen Blanc interplanted shining through. Fabulously spicy and saline with dried herbs, pear purée, apple pastille and crunchy pineapple. Incredible Grand Cru palate weight and breadth, coating concentration and length without ever losing poise and finesse. Wow, what a wine. The ultimate Grand Cru Chenin!

Little bush vines planted in 1981 next to the Skaliekop vineyard but on 100% granitic soils. Nose shows a lovely balance between minerality, pithy spicy yellow orchard fruits, crushed granite and dry fynbos and thatch herbal spice. Cool, clean, crystalline, powerful and linear, this cuvée shows the classic tension of Chenin Blanc grown on granite soils, an entrancing saline crisp acidity and a sleek, polished marble textural harmony and finesse. Really quite impressive now but this is most certainly a wine for medium to long term cellaring. One for the collectors!?

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

David & Nadia wines are distributed to the trade in the UK by Justerini & Brooks.

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When I was was out on the town in London with Chris Alheit in 2017, he voiced his uncertainty over the long term future of the Cartology brand versus the more niche single vineyard cuvee expressions in his portfolio.

I told him in no uncertain terms that to kill off this super strong Cartology brand would be madness due to its established cult following in Europe and beyond. Of course the dilemma lay with some of the unique old vine vineyard parcels that were going into the blend that realistically merited their own cuvees.

Thankfully, the Cartology project continues and the quality remains super high and expressive. 2018 is another deliciously individual, expressive white wine that speaks of the unique personality of the last drought vintage in South Africa in 2018.

Alheit Family Wines Cartology 2018, WO Western Cape, 13 Abv.

The traditional Cartology blend with a dominant 90% Chenin Blanc and 10% Semillon in support. As previous, this is a multi-vineyard, multi-regional blend to produce one of South Africa’s strongest white wine brands. The nose resonates with notes of fresh stable straw, honey on white toast, freshly squeezed peach juice, dusty granitic minerality and a subtle leesy, smoky touch of reduction. The palate shows an impressively spikey fresh acidity twinned with a crystalline yellow orchard fruit concentration so typical of so many 2018 South African whites. There is something so familiar about this Cartology yet also some intriguingly unique vintage characters of hawthorn, quince and unripe tangerines. This wine shows more focus, linearity and salinity than bigger previous vintages and strikes another powerful note for the premium white wines from the 2018 vintage.

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The Eden 2018 Chenin Blanc is made from fruit grown in a beautifully manicured 10 to 14 year old Chenin Blanc vineyard alongside the Raats Family Winery in Stellenbosch on the Vlaeberg Road in the Polkadraai. When Bruwer Raats released the first vintage of his high density planted Montpellier Clone Chenin Blanc in 2014, the wine represented a culmination of years of planning and work to produce a wine unlike anything else that had been produced in South Africa.

What Bruwer, known as ‘the Chenin King’ achieved with his young vines back then is genuinely astonishing. But the fine tuning and understanding of these young vineyards has never stopped and with the UK release of the fourth vintage imminent (there was no 2017), this wine has clearly built up an impressive cult following among serious wine lovers, collectors and connoisseurs… for what is found inside a bottle of Eden Chenin Blanc is nothing short of profound.

This high density vineyard planted to the Montpellier Chenin Blanc clone has become more and more established year after year, enough so to already start to display unique vineyard terroir features in the same way you would see in the greatest single vineyards of the Loire or Burgundy. The 2018 exhibits an impressively tight, taut and focused aromatic profile that teases the senses with the most intricate and intense mineral nuances while simultaneously offering up a veritable kings banquet of the most complex array of yellow orchard fruits and white citrus. Regal and noble in every sense, this is a wine born from the fruit of a vineyard planted with the most meticulous planning and precision viticulture. The resulting complexity is clear for all to see with layer upon layer of liquid minerality, wet grey slate, peach skins, wet thatch and sweet orange pastille candied notes wafting effortlessly out of the glass. On the palate, there is certainly no lack of vigour either with a bright, vibrant acidity from the 100% decomposed granite soils that lend an extra dimension of linearity that has become another hallmark of the Eden style of Chenin Blanc and is just one of the factors which helps guarantee this wines age worthiness. The palate of this 2018 radiates a crystalline flesh and depth, Lalique-like fruit purity and accessibility combined with an impressive mandarin orange, white peach, fresh fennel and a salty, briney finish twined with a resurgent granitic minerality. Slightly more open knit on release that either the 2015 or 2016, this new expression is nevertheless a thing of wonder and beauty.

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Doolhof Wine Estate, in the Lemietberg Ward of the Wellington region, is a winery I have followed over the years with one of my favourite wines in their portfolio being their expressive Malbec red. Their current winemaker Gielie Beukes has now been making the wines at the estate for around five years and has just released an impressive selection of super premium single vineyard wines.

The Doolhof vineyards lie in a valley with varying aspects and differing soil types forming some interesting micro climates for single vineyard wines. The estate lies between Bain’s Kloof and the Groenberg Mountain Range. The result is soils that are finer, more balanced and deeper than in the surrounding countryside with clay content evenly distributed. A combination of Malmesbury shale, homogenic Glenrosa and Clovelly soils ensure that the vine’s roots are able to descend to four metres of depth or more.

While Doolhof has more than adequate irrigation, natural water retention is also very good, without any sign of permanent dampness. While the shape and exposure (topography) of the various parts of the Doolhof Estate allow for several distinct microclimates, generally, Doolhof experiences cooler winters and moderate summers compared with the Wellington norm.

Roughly 40 of the farm’s 380 hectares are planted to vine. Soils, growing conditions and microclimates vary considerably across this large expanse (which reaches up into Bain’s Kloof), and each grape varietal is carefully matched to its ideal terroir. The white varietals are planted on the eastern slopes of the Groenberg, which allow the grapes cooler days and less direct sunlight.

The vineyard plots around the Doolhof Wine Estate.

Their export manager Johan Fourie recently visited me in London to taste through these seriously impressive new single vineyard wines from the farm. They are certainly not cheap but then again they are very fine terroir expressions and definitely worth seeking out.

Only 1200 bottles produced. Deep dark broody nose of black fruits, sappy plum, vanilla oak spice and winter black fruit compote. Plenty of fragrant lift and spice, this has a more serious structured leafy complexity supported by stony mineral tannins and a crunchy, tart acidity. Still very youthful and finding its inner balance, this should flesh out and relax and put on extra palate weight with 2 or 3 years in bottle. A fine effort for this variety that seems very at home in South Africa.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

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Greg Sherwood MW is a London based South African Master of Wine and Fine Wine Buyer at Handford Wines in South Kensington. He is a regular judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards, SA Top 100, Nederburg Wine Auction and WOSA World Sommelier Awards, and tastes many of the world's finest wines every week. Join Greg on a safari into wine - you might even spot a few unicorns!